Zira/Main article
Zira was a lioness who was the leader of the Outsiders. She was the mother of Nuka, Vitani, and Kovu. She was the main antagonist in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Physical Attributes Zira has pale tanish-brown fur with a darker brown stripe running down her face and stopping between her eyes, a cream chest, blood red eyes in The Lion King II (although in the Disney books, she is shown to have blue eyes), and a notch in her right ear. Her ears also feature two unnoticable thin black strips. Like Scar, she is thin(due to malnutrition or genetic makeup is unclear) and her claws are visible on her paws. Personality Zira is the main antagonist in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. She's extremely loyal to Scar through the film. She bore three cubs Nuka, Vitani, and Kovu. Zira mentions that Kovu was the last born before they were exiled, but his father's identity is unknown. Like Scar, she is bitter to the point of murder, though acts through her son, Kovu. All her hopes are placed in rearing Kovu as Scar's replica, and she dreams of retaking Pride Rock. In the end, she is the only one left standing in her meaningless alliance to Scar and tries to kill Simba in front of everyone. She dies without redemption or regret except for herself and Scar. However, despite her evil traits and her harshness to her own children, she still treated them with some affection. When Nuka was in his dying breaths, she soothed him and showed genuine grief once he died. The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Kovu becomes affectionate with Simba's daughter Kiara after the two cubs escape from crocodiles on the Outland borders. Simba and Zira clash over this, but the two leave without fighting. Zira plots to train Kovu so he can easily kill Simba at the right moment through singing "My Lullaby". Years pass and when Kovu becomes a full grown adult, she inspects him to know that he is fully ready to complete Scar's dying wish for him to become king. Once, Kovu saves Kiara from a fire of Nuka and Vitani's own making, he is allowed to enter the Pridelands by Simba so he could get closer to Kiara and in turn, Simba. Then, when Simba was alone, Kovu would kill him as she explains this to Nuka. The plan works successfully, but, after Kovu experiences "Upendi", Zira is informed by her daughter Vitani that Kovu did not kill Simba when he was alone. Kovu's action causes Zira to think he may have betrayed them so she plans an ambush on Simba while he is with Kovu. Simba falls into a gorge during the ensuing fight, but escapes via a log dam piled up against one end of the gorge. The logs fall and crush Nuka, killing him. Zira pauses to mourn her son's demise, asking Scar to watch over Nuka for her, but she very quickly takes her anger out on Kovu, giving him a scar identical to Scar's. Kovu, defiant for the first time, flees for the Pride Lands as Zira declares war on Simba. Zira rallies her lionesses and they travel to the Pride Lands for the final battle. At the battle's climax, Simba and Zira are about to fight each other when Kiara and Kovu intervene and stop the battle before it can begin, convincing the Outlanders and the Pridelanders that "they are one." Vitani is the first to realize this and switch sides. Zira threatens to kill Vitani if she doesn't come back, disgusting the other lionesses, who subsequently abandon her. Enraged, Zira charges at Simba, stating that "this is for you, Scar." Kiara leaps into Zira's path, causing Zira to knock Kiara and herself off the edge of a nearby cliff, sending them both tumbling into the gorge. Kiara lands safely on a ledge, but Zira slides off the edge and hangs precariously onto it. Kiara makes an attempt to rescue Zira, but Zira swipes at her, rejecting help. Zira, having rejected aid, slips and falls into the river below and drowns. Kovu silently mourns the death of his mother. Songs *My Lullaby Trivia *The notch in Zira's right ear occasionally changes sides during the movie; this is most likely an error on the animators' part. *In an alternate scene that survived to the rough animation stage, Kiara offers Zira aid, but Zira, with a twisted grin, replies "No, Never." and releases her claws from the cliff, falling into the swollen river below thus committing suicide. This was considered too dark for a Disney film and was cut. *In a deleted scene from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride titled "Nuka and Vitani's News" found on YouTube, Zira mentions that she was Scar's "loving, devoted queen" indicating that Zira and Scar did have a relationship some time before Scar died. *Zira's original name was Bianca but the producers changed it to Zira because it sounded more African. References Category:Characters Category:Lions Category:Outsiders Category:Female Characters Category:Deceased Characters Category:Antagonists